Published on 31 December 2007

There were sessions on the difficulty of achieving a successful M&A operation and, on the same theme, how staff can be moved between head office and subsidiaries to ensure exchange of knowledge and culture at group level. A panel put the focus on innovative finance products in both new and existing markets, particularly diversification in types of assets financed and tailoring financial products to meet the industry needs and expectations. There were presentations on good business practice for successful syndication businesses, and the current use of outsourcing and its potential in the industry.

In a cost effectiveness panel, a survey carried out recently by Hitachi Capital revealed that service innovation and delivery is considered by brokers to be more important than finance product innovation.

The conference also incorporated the first European Leasing Awards Dinner, which recognised achievements by Grenkeleasing, Pitney Bowes and UniCredit.